I have never seen this before. Cormorants gather on a drifting giant kelp paddy on the open ocean where I saw them diving below then coming up in the kelp rubbing their backs on the seaweed. Another example of giant kelp being used to clean and/or remove parasites from an animal?

In the morning before our first trip, this Brandt's cormorant (Phalocrocorax penicillatus) was found swimming around in the harbor entangled in fishing line and dragging kelp debris caught on the line. Deck hands Tasha and Matt were able to gently net the bird, remove the line, and free the cormorant. The bird had evidently swallowed a very small rockfish which had been hooked. The fishing line attached to this hooked fish came out the bird's mouth and wrapped around its feet, making a big problem.
Cudos to Tasha and Mat !

In the morning before our first trip, this Brandt's cormorant (Phalocrocorax penicillatus) was found swimming around in the harbor entangled in fishing line and dragging kelp debris caught on the line. Deck hands Tasha and Matt were able to gently net the bird, remove the line, and free the cormorant. The bird had evidently swallowed a very small rockfish which had been hooked. The fishing line attached to this hooked fish came out the bird's mouth and wrapped around its feet, making a big problem.
Cudos to Tasha and Mat !